3 minutes ago, Turvey said:

... however this is being improved with a massive, for Orkney anyway, infrastructure upgrade. 

Is this the one the French threatened to disrupt over the illegal migrant issue? 😁

35 minutes ago, Turvey said:

If this was upscaled throughout the whole country, and yes 'Dismayed from Hampshire' this would mean seeing wind turbines (not windmills) out of your window along with the power lines to transport the power, I don't see why we couldn't be self sufficient

I can only quote what the author of the paper under discussion said : we are going to need to triple our generating capacity. Renewables alone won't be enough, even if we are able to build massive storage systems to avoid the need for base load. I don't know what you think about taking thousands of acres (sorry, Hectares ) of productive farmland out of use to build solar farms but I think that's a very unwise policy. We need to be as self-sufficient as possible in food as well as energy, otherwise we are a hostage to global food as well as energy prices. I know there's no possibility of being totally self-sufficient in food but we definitely should not be putting ourselves in the position of needing to import more.

https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/electric-hatchback-heavy-jeep-needed-110200681.html

I feel that I need to do my bit to help the environment, so I'm going to buy some shares in a few tyre companies 🤣

 

Modern tires are a miracle of engineering compared with what was available even just twenty years ago. The improvement in fuel economy and the long tread life of the average passenger car tire is a genuinely positive thing for the environment! Kudos to you, sir.

I'm just curious, has the quality of 'petrol' increased in the last 20 years, or just our ability to burn it more cleanly?

17 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I'm just curious, has the quality of 'petrol' increased in the last 20 years, or just our ability to burn it more cleanly?

Both!

https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/japans-toyota-announces-engine-born-103753714.html

On my walk to the local shop this morning, I spotted a group of people in the distance with a banner, who appeared to be taking photos of each other. My first reaction was "Oh no, not election campaigners already", but as I got nearer it turned out to be this group, setting off on the next leg of their "pilgrimage" hence my mentioning it in this thread:

https://www.coatofhopes.uk/

At least it was a nice day for a walk!

2 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

https://www.coatofhopes.uk/

At least it was a nice day for a walk!

Didn't Primark sell those?? 🤣

They intend that in the distant future all people will be walking! If you have any strength left. Your diet will be vegan, absolutely no meat protein. If you want to venture out to vacation or maybe just visit family in a distant town. Feel free to walk. You should have a warm coat. It will probably be the same one you wear when you are in your home or apartment, you must have one because you don’t have forced air heating in your future home. “Save the planet” and all that tripe.

 

Labour manifesto policy. 

A 2030 ban on petrol and diesel car sales

Labour says it will restore plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, arguing it would give certainty to manufacturers. It overturns a government decision made last September to extend the deadline to 2035, a move which some car firms welcomed but others said could put people off switching to electric vehicles.

8 hours ago, iantt said:

Labour says it will restore plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030

And puts us out of kilter with the EU again which are still on 2035. Curious, as they seem keen on more closely aligning with the EU, which policy is itself now looking odd as most of Europe has swung markedly to the political right recently.

 

 

6 hours ago, iantt said:

Labour manifesto policy. 

A 2030 ban on petrol and diesel car sales

Labour says it will restore plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, arguing it would give certainty to manufacturers. It overturns a government decision made last September to extend the deadline to 2035, a move which some car firms welcomed but others said could put people off switching to electric vehicles.

 

Lego-head has come up with many whoppers! It's immaterial anyway, as other manifesto pledges will ensure that no one can afford a new car of any propulsion...

10 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

And puts us out of kilter with the EU again which are still on 2035. Curious, as they seem keen on more closely aligning with the EU, which policy is itself now looking odd as most of Europe has swung markedly to the political right recently.

 

 

Uk population full of swingers . But that's another thread🤣🤣

I see that our friends in the EU are proposing tariffs of up to over 38% on Chinese EV imports.

Given that the chap whose father was a toolmaker is quite keen on closer alignment with the EU, I wonder if they'll take that on board too?

Could make things tough for folk who thought that when they are forbidden to buy an ICE car, they could always get, say, an MG EV at an affordable price instead.

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Given that the chap whose father was a toolmaker

It took a moment before I realised the significance of his fathers occupation 🤔

.....but then I realised 🤣🤣

What year have they chosen for everyone to move into holes in the ground? They have lost their minds and the population seems to be okay with that.

You all do understand that the rules for car ownership that is being pushed into law will not apply to the elites? There will be plenty of petrol and jet fuel for them to travel around freely.

30 minutes ago, Scottman said:

What year have they chosen for everyone to move into holes in the ground? They have lost their minds and the population seems to be okay with that.

That's the positive thing, increasingly, the population is more aware now than ever that it's all a con. The 1000s of well paid 'green' jobs that all UK parties promise are entirely correct. Although sadly they're all based in China & India, not UK. They will build as much 'green' crap as we want, all using coal/oil fossil fuel technology to do it.

Still can't get my head around that China has over 3300 coal fired powered stations, and increasing monthly, whereas UK has one, no, that's not a typo - ONE! Yet we gleefully allow 'green' protestors to disrupt our lives to make us 'aware'!

The domestic 'heat pumps' that were the worlds saviour a few years ago,folk now realise that an oil/gas boiler is £20k less, being affordable, and they actually efficiently heat our homes.

The UK is slowly growing aware that just as USA can no longer be the worlds policeman, the UK cannot be the worlds shining green beacon!

As we draw closer to 2030, folk are now thinking that EVs are not all they're cracked up to be, expensive, equally planet destroying to traditional ICE cars (over cradle to grave life cycle), pathetic infrastructure, and if you don't live in an urban environment, a nightmare to live & plan your life around. Though China will ship us as many as our market will take. 

Just as LTN (low traffic neighbourhoods) are now being torn down as many were covertly introduced under emergency Covid legislation and folk got a slap in the face of what government was trying to do. Getting rid of cars is not a solution.

At the forthcoming general election, for the 3rd consecutive time I will be spoiling my vote (a legitimate form of protest) with a message against net zero, as the whole ethos is ill thought out, and will plunge us all into poverty...

33 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

At the forthcoming general election, for the 3rd consecutive time I will be spoiling my vote (a legitimate form of protest) with a message against net zero

I may well be joining you. I just wish there was a way of recording the fact and making it clear that it is a protest, not that we're incapable of putting a cross in a box!

On 6/15/2024 at 6:01 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I see that our friends in the EU are proposing tariffs of up to over 38% on Chinese EV imports.

Interesting that, from what I've seen so far, European manufacturers do not appear to support this move.

I've seen statements against it from the CEOs/Chairs of Renault Group, Volkswagen Group, Stellantis and Mercedes Benz.

I don’t understand why the government doesn’t incentivize car sharing in dense urban areas. The fleet is already in place, it would be a easy way for people to defray cost of ownership, Uber and Lyft have already created the basic code for payment. The only thing wrong with the idea is that it doesn’t increase the size or income of the government!

all of old arguments regarding how clean a petrol vehicle can be were addressed successfully by the industry. All of the rule making for the past decade regarding this issue has been aimed at getting rid of the private vehicle. Which is what they always have wanted to do. 
I think that the Eco types that believed they could get rid of the private vehicle by legislating it into oblivion were completely flummoxed when the manufacturers stepped up and developed the catalyst systems and then electronic fuel injection and were able to produce very low emission cars with huge power improvements. I am sure that it was a great disappointment for the car hater’s!

Ford has announced that they will allow dealerships that didn’t buy into the EV sales agreement ( originally dealerships were required to pay from $500,000 to almost one million usd for the training and service upgrade’s to be a EV dealer!) will be able to get them out of the inventory on hand. The unhemn, fire sale is about to begin! I have seen lots at vacant Ford facilities around the metro area packed with Lightning and Mach E production overflow for many months. The discounts will have to be breathtaking to move this stuff!

9 minutes ago, Scottman said:

... and Mach E production overflow for many months. The discounts will have to be breathtaking to move this stuff!

The Mach E has been extensively advertised here for weeks now with retail starting at £50,000, though discounts of £7000 now being offered...

They probably won’t have as much financial exposure in the UK because the production numbers are lower. In America the government subsidies are still not high enough to entice people to buy them. It’s a terrible position to be in. Plus many, if not most dealerships are not interested in buying it back if the customer is not happy with the decision!